Aga Khan IV

49th Imam of Nizari Isma'ilism Muslims · United Kingdom · Business Professionals · Lived 1936 to 2025 · aged 88 · also Portugal · also Switzerland · also France · also Canada

Aga Khan IV is read about 2,325 times a day, in 46 languages.

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He led fifteen million Nizari Ismaili Muslims as their Imam for nearly seven decades, a hereditary spiritual authority he assumed at twenty. Forbes listed him among the world's richest royals - though the title reflected religious lineage, not land or crown.

Executives Business Professional Entrepreneurship United Kingdom Europe 20th Century

A life in dates

2025Died4 February 20252018Honorary Doctor of Simon Fraser UniversityAwardHonorary Doctorate from the University of British ColumbiaAward2017Honorary Doctor from the NOVA University LisbonAward2013North-South PrizeAward2011Honorary Canadian CitizenshipAward2009Honorary Doctorate from the University of AlbertaAwardHonorary Doctorate from the University of CambridgeAward2005Honorary Doctorate from the American University of BeirutAward2004“Canada has an experience of governance of which much of the world stands in dire need.”In their words19 May 2004Address by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Leadership and Diversity Conference, Gatineau, Canada (19 May 2004)Read the whole statement

Honorary doctorate from University of TorontoAwardKnight Commander of the Order of the British EmpireAward2003“Pluralism is no longer simply an asset or a prerequisite for progress and development, it is vital to our existence.”In their words15 April 2003Speech at the Ceremony to Inaugurate the Restored Humayun's Tomb Gardens, New Delhi, India (15 April 2003)Read the whole statement

“What students know is no longer the most important measure of an education.”In their wordsForeword to Excellence in Education (2003)Read the whole statement

2002“Canada is today the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe, without any doubt in my mind.... That is something unique to Canada.”In their words2 February 2002"Canada: 'A model for the world', in The Globe and Mail (2 February 2002)Read the whole statement

2001“Conflict situations are driven by concepts of victory, power, and elimination of inherited culture, and not by the underlying values of civilization.”In their words31 August 2001Interview with Robert Ivy (FAIA), in Architectural Record (31 August 2001)Read the whole statement

1989Order of Merit for LabourAward1987Honorary Doctorate from McMaster UniversityAward1983“There are those... who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot.”In their words17 January 1983Speech at the Innauguration of the Aga Khan Baug, Versova, India (17 January 1983)Read the whole statement

Honorary Doctorate from the McGill UniversityAward1977Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicAward1936Born13 December 1936

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Aga Khan 01 (cropped)

Vladimir Putin 30 April 2002-1

Afghan President Ghani Greets the Aga Khan (30043376141)

Aga Kahn, Cino Ricci and Gianni Agnelli in 1983

Aga Khan (i.e Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini) (cropped)

Aga Khan (i.e Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini) 1973-1974 (cropped)

Aga Khan (i.e Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini) 1973-1974

In their own words 10

Aga Khan IV

10 statements, newest first

A secure pluralistic society requires communities that are educated and confident both in the identity and depth of their own traditions and in those of their neighbours.
May 19, 2004, Address at the Leadership and Diversity Conference Gatineau, Quebec, Canada (19 May 2004), Own words
Canada has an experience of governance of which much of the world stands in dire need.
May 19, 2004, Address by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Leadership and Diversity Conference, Gatineau, Canada (19 May 2004), Own words
Tolerance, openness and understanding towards other peoples' cultures, social structures, values and faiths are now essential to the very survival of an interdependent world.
Apr 15, 2003, Speech at the Ceremony to Inaugurate the Restored Humayun's Tomb Gardens, New Delhi, India (15 April 2003), Own words

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Awards

Honorary Doctorate from the University of British Columbia2018

Honorary Doctor of Simon Fraser University2018

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour2018

Honorary Doctor from the NOVA University Lisbon2017

North-South Prize2013

Honorary doctor of the University of Ottawa2012

Honorary Canadian Citizenship2011

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cambridge2009

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Alberta2009

Honorary Doctor of Harvard University2008

Honorary Doctorate from the American University of Beirut2005

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire2004

Honorary doctorate from University of Toronto2004

Honorary Doctorate from Brown University1996

Order of Merit for Labour1989

Honorary Doctorate from McMaster University1987

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne1986

Honorary Doctorate from the McGill University1983

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic1977

Commander of the Legion of Honour

Companion of the Order of Canada

Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion

Order of Friendship

Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit

Padma Vibhushan in trade & industry

Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres

Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali

Order of the Crown

National Order of Madagascar

Nishan-e-Pakistan

Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya

Sitara-i-Imtiaz

National Order of Upper Volta

Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Portugal

Grand Cross of the Military Order of Christ

Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty

Order "Danaker"

National Order of Merit

Family

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Aga Khan IV

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About this person

Shah Karim al-Hussaini became the 49th Imam of Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islam on 13 December 1957, inheriting the role and the Aga Khan title from his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah. His followers called him Mawlānā Hazar Imam. He founded and chaired the Aga Khan Development Network, a private development apparatus. By 2013, Vanity Fair pegged his net worth above $13.3 billion. He held no political sovereignty or territory, yet the scale of his spiritual authority and wealth placed him on Forbes' list of the fifteen richest royals. He died on 4 February 2025, sixty-eight years into his imamate.

Country

United Kingdom

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Nicholas Winton65.4 Don Arden54.8

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex69.7

James Murdoch52.3

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